News

By LISA HOFFMAN
Friday, November 17, 2006
It was 86 years ago that Frank Buckles, then a young World War I corporal, crossed paths with the greatest general of the time.

At an Oklahoma City reception, Buckles, then 18 and newly back from two years at war in France, caught the eye of Gen.

By MOUSTAFA AYAD
Friday, November 17, 2006
A woman charged with fatally stabbing her husband told police that she left him dead on a staircase in their home overnight and for most of the next day, walking past his body several times before she called a friend to say he was unresponsive.

By PAUL KORING
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Troops from most major European nations are kept far from the fighting in Afghanistan, crippling NATO's effort to defeat the Taliban and secure the embattled south, according to NATO officers and independent analysts.

That leaves U.S., British and Canadian soldiers doing most of the fighting and dying in the battle with the fierce Taliban insurgency, a review of casualties shows.

Germany, France, Italy, and Spain _ all major military powers with significant troop contributions _ have stayed far from the Taliban fighters, deploying thousands of combat-capable troops, but keeping them hunkered down in the mostly peaceful northern and western parts of the country.

The starkest indicator of the imbalance is the body count, with three countries _ the United States, Canada and Britain _ accounting for 90 percent of NATO's combat casualties.

Americans killed in action account for half of the total, followed by Canada with 25 percent and Britain with 15 percent.

The unwillingness of many European nations to allow their troops to be sent into combat is only part of the problem.

Most of the 37 "troop-contributing" nations to the International Security and Assistance Force have sent too few soldiers to make any meaningful military impact.

Some are just token contributions.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006
In Afghanistan: Troop levels:

Country Troops

U.S. 11,250

Britain 5,200

Germany 2,750

Canada 2,300

Neth

By LISA HOFFMAN
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
So how good were those election predictions put forth by all manner of pundits and professors?

First, here are the congressional results: Democrats will control 51 seats in the Senate to the Republicans' 49.

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Thursday, November 16, 2006

By DAN WALTERS
Monday, November 20, 2006
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, fresh off his landslide re-election victory, was in an upbeat mood this week as he laid out the broad themes of his second term during an address in Los Angeles.

Schwarzenegger didn't use the "fantastic" label he seemingly applied to everything during the first months of his up-and-down governorship, but as he described it, a new spirit of bipartisanship has infused Sacramento and would lead to agreements on just about everything.

When asked about the state's chronic budget deficits, however, Schwarzenegger did offer a fantastic scenario _ fantastic as in fantasy _ that the $42 billion in infrastructure bonds also approved by voters this month would generate so much economic activity that the state's coffers would overflow and the deficits would disappear.

"Now we have 42 billion dollars," Schwarzenegger said.

Monday, November 20, 2006
The Democratic takeover of the House and Senate may force a new day of bipartisanship in Washington, but the one area where it was already thriving was the effort to end chronic homelessness.

By DAVID R. BAKER
Monday, November 20, 2006
California's latest source of clean energy started spinning slowly in the wind above the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta last spring.

One hundred white windmills, their blades stretching 122 feet, line the hilltops west of Rio Vista.

By ILENE LELCHUK
Monday, November 20, 2006
Not enough federal or foundation dollars are going to California's and the country's neediest families, according to two new reports on government housing cutbacks and charitable donations.